THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:In an attempt to conserve water resources, the Kerala State Literacy Mission has taken a big step with organising an awareness programme called ‘ Jalasaksharatha’ (water literacy) in the state.The campaign will be held with the participation of around 70,000 students from Class X and higher secondary school level as part of their curriculum.
As part of the campaign, each student has to take awareness classes pertaining to the importance of water conservation for at least 15 persons who are residing close to their residence. At least one person from a family should be trained by the students. The literacy mission said that a total of 10 lakh students would take part in the campaign.
The campaign will be held from June 20 to September 20. The literacy mission has also formulated a special curriculum titled ‘ Jalam Paristhithi Saksharathapadam- I’ for the campaign. The official release of the book will be held on Tuesday by the Education minister C Raveendranath. Water Resources Minister Mathew T Thomas will also participate in the occasion.The book contains 16 chapters which focuses on the importance of saving water, removing the pollutants in water, how to conserve water through scientific methods.
Officials believe environmental education is the next step for Kerala, which was declared a total literate state in 1991 and became the first in the country to achieve 100 percent primary education in January, 2016. In later phases, the programme will be rolled out across 1,200 LSGs viz., 941 village panchayats, 152 block panchayats, and 14 district panchayats, besides the municipality and corporations.